Dear Colleagues,

I am excited to announce that Greg Van Tatenhove has accepted the offer to serve as the dean of the J. David Rosenberg College of Law, effective July 1, 2026, pending approval of the Board of Trustees.

Greg is currently serving as a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, a role he has held since 2006. Previously, he served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, chief of staff for U.S. Representative Ron Lewis and an Honors Program trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice.

In each of these roles, Greg has demonstrated broad and substantive senior-level leadership, managing complex multidisciplinary teams, overseeing substantial budgets and adjudicating complex legal and public policy issues. 

He has served as chair of various organizational committees, including the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management, the Sixth Circuit Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction Committee and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, leading strategic planning initiatives and developing and implementing policies and procedures.

Greg has also been an adjunct instructor in the Rosenberg College of Law since 2017, teaching “Crime and Punishment: Sentencing Policy and Procedure.” He is a judge and lecturer in the Trial Advocacy Program for Assistant United States Attorneys, a part of the National Advocacy Center at the University of South Carolina, and judge of the Vincent S. Dalsimer Moot Court Competition at Pepperdine University.

With his leadership and guidance, I am confident that the J. David Rosenberg College of Law will continue its upward trajectory as a premier law college in the nation, with a faculty and staff body committed to both its students and to advancing the legal profession. Greg’s experience advancing strategic goals and engaging with broad groups of internal and external stakeholders will allow him to work closely with faculty, staff and students to further the Rosenberg College of Law’s mission of providing first-class law education and preparing students to be leaders and scholars.

I also want to extend my deepest gratitude to Jim Duff for serving as interim dean for the last year and helping the Rosenberg College of Law build upon its reputation of excellence in scholarship and service. Please join me in thanking Jim for his service.

Please also join me in congratulating Greg as he steps into this vital leadership role for our campus.

Thank you for all you do to advance Kentucky and our communities.

Robert DiPaola 
Provost

Dear Colleagues, 

As spring approaches and warmer weather arrives, midterms are following closely behind. I want to remind everyone of the resources we have available for both you, our faculty, and our students. 

UK Human Resources Work-life and Well-being has resources you can use, including various wellness experts and workshops on topics like better sleep and mindfulness. Keeping a strong work-life balance and caring for your own well-being is important — and I encourage you to take advantage of the resources you need to succeed as a faculty member and as an individual outside of UK. Below are additional resources to finish strong in the final weeks of the semester.

The Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) is a great resource for advancing educational excellence. There are several resources and opportunities to get engaged with the center, and I encourage you to explore their offerings. Additionally, we recently announced the launch of an AI literacy course available to all faculty and staff. This foundational AI literacy course is adapted from the recently launched TEK 100 course. It covers topics such as what machine learning is, prompt engineering, hallucinations, how to validate AI outputs and the ethics of AI to help you build an AI foundation before jumping into specific tools. You can find more information and register for the course here:https://akt.uky.edu/commonwealth-ai-transdisciplinary-strategy. 

And just as we have resources for you, you are also a resource for your students. Taking care of our students and ensuring their well-being creates a safe and constructive learning community for our campus. The Office for Student Success offers programs for academic, physical and mental health support for all our students. Learn more about how to support your students here: https://studentsuccess.uky.edu/get-help.

Spring is an exciting time as we start to position our students to successfully complete another academic year. Thank you for everything you do to support their success. 

Robert DiPaola 
Provost

Dear Colleagues, 

As many of you know, recent rule changes regarding digital accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will go into effect this semester. As a university, we are dedicated to providing an accessible and welcoming learning environment to students, staff and campus visitors. All digital content must be accessible in accordance with these requirements by April 24, 2026.

These regulations also apply to academic and course material that you utilize in your classrooms and online. The Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) has created a Canvas course for all instructors on updating course content for accessibility. 

In this Canvas course, you will find modules detailing the areas you should review and how to update material, if necessary. Some potential areas that may require updates are:

• Images without descriptions or alt text
• Missing titles on documents and files
• OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for PDFs

Making digital content accessible creates greater learning opportunities for all our students. If you have questions, you can reach out via this General Inquiry Form.

Thank you for helping to ensure we continue to put our students first.

Robert DiPaola 
Provost

Dear Colleagues, 

Every year, our university recognizes faculty and teaching assistants through the Provost’s Awards for Outstanding Teaching. It is always an honor to recognize the professors and instructors who work endlessly to help our students to grow and flourish. 

As announced in our communications on Dec. 11 and Jan. 22, the deadline for nominations is tomorrow, Feb. 6. I encourage everyone to consider nominating a faculty member or a graduate teaching assistant who has made a great impact on our campus community and creates an engaging teaching and learning environment. To nominate an individual, use this link.

Educating our students is the backbone of this university and its mission to advance Kentucky, and we want to continue to recognize excellent educators and showcase the importance of why you, as instructors and professors, continue to do what you do. 

I know this work is not done to collect an award at the end of the year; you do this to make a lasting impact on your campus community. The time and effort you dedicate to teaching and mentoring your students contribute directly to the development of stronger, more resilient communities for everyone.

Your dedication as you lead students in your laboratories and your commitment to teaching in the classroom are vital to our students’ learning and their success beyond this university.

You nurture curiosity in the students who want to learn and develop more specialized skills. You build bridges to new knowledge for students who are eager to learn. You foster relationships with students and create connections that will help them pursue a professional career. 

Everything you do, as educators, is integral to this university and its mission. Thank you for always putting our students first.

Robert DiPaola 
Provost 

Dear Colleagues, 

Welcome to a new spring semester. I hope you were able to take time to recharge and enjoy the break. 

There are many things to look forward to for our faculty and staff, as well as for our students. This is a time for growth and learning; the teaching, research, service and care you model for our students are helping create an environment where each of us learns from one another. 

Last semester, we held our December Commencement to celebrate our fall graduates. Our university had nearly 1,300 graduating students participating in the ceremonies. Overall, 2,084 degrees were conferred, including 1,351 undergraduate degrees, 723 graduate degrees and 10 professional degrees. 

These are not simply numbers — they symbolize all of your hard work and dedication in guiding our students in your classrooms, research laboratories and clinics. 

In your classrooms, our students will evolve into the future leaders of our communities.

Through their experiences in research laboratories and clinics, our students will gain knowledge that will allow them to advance Kentucky.

Thank you for all you do to help them achieve their dreams.

I look forward to all we will do together to make this a successful spring semester — through your efforts in your classrooms, research laboratories and clinics, we will continue to advance our communities. 

Thank you for everything you do to prepare our students for their futures and advance Kentucky.

Robert DiPaola 
Provost

Dear Colleagues,  

Our annual December Commencement ceremonies will be held next week on Dec. 19 in Rupp Arena. Commencement marks an important milestone in our students’ lives, symbolizing the beginning of new opportunities as they move forward into their chosen careers and pursuits.  

It has always brought me joy to watch students reach this milestone with their friends, families and so many others who have supported them on their journeys. We have students from all colleges coming together to participate in this semester’s Commencement. 

I invite all of you to attend Commencement, and I sincerely hope you will be able to join us. For more details about attending this year’s ceremonies, click here.

As our faculty, this Commencement is a testament to how hard you have worked and how dedicated you have been to our students — your leadership and mentorship have guided these bright students to an even brighter future, allowing them to achieve their highest potential. 

Simply put, you have been there for them — through both the triumphs and the challenges. Now it is time to celebrate them at their best. 

As our students turn the page and begin this new chapter of life, they will strive for greatness and live lives of meaning and purpose using skills you have helped them discover here at UK. I am deeply proud of our soon-to-be graduates, and equally proud to be part of an institute of faculty that has shown such extreme dedication and care to our students.  

On behalf of the University of Kentucky, thank you for helping create this cherished moment for our students. I hope you have a happy holiday season and rest during the break, so we can come back next semester invigorated to lead our students along their career journey.  

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D.  
Provost 

Campus Colleagues,

I am writing to inform you that we will begin the search process for the next permanent dean to lead the Lewis Honors College and its community in their mission to engage with and improve the lives of Kentuckians. Dr. Laura Bryan has served as interim dean since June 1, 2025, and we thank her for her service in this key leadership role for the University of Kentucky.

The Lewis Honors College provides opportunities for highly motivated students from across the university’s campus to explore various avenues of creative and intellectual development. Through connecting with leaders on campus and beyond, supplementing student support with peer ambassadors and mentors and building a thriving learning community, the Lewis Honors College prepares its students with leadership and workforce readiness skills.

The search process will begin soon with the goal of the college’s next dean joining us by July 1, 2026. The first step in the search process is to form a search advisory committee comprising faculty, staff, students and alumni. As part of our efforts to enhance communication and transparency and to uphold the university’s bedrock principle of shared governance, the Office of the Provost is seeking nominations for the search advisory committee. All recommendations are confidential.

To nominate yourself or someone else to serve on the search advisory committee, please click here. Nominations are due by noon on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

If you have any questions about the process, please contact Shavonna Ross, director of operations (shav.ross@uky.edu).

Thank you in advance for your valuable input. We appreciate all that you do to advance Kentucky.

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D.
Provost

Dear Colleagues,

As we enter the colder months and the holiday season, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to each of you for all that you do on behalf of UK and those we serve.

This year has presented many challenges to our institution, but together, we have remained unwaveringly dedicated to our mission: advancing Kentucky.

You, our faculty, are drivers of innovation, finding creative and novel ways to provide solutions to the most pressing issues confronting our Commonwealth and its communities.

• Your dedication to our students has helped drive record graduation rates, with preliminary six-year graduation rates now at nearly 72%.
• You are helping address critical workforce shortages in Kentucky by launching efforts to prepare graduates to serve our communities.
• And you are leading the charge to heal Kentucky with compassionate care, helping pioneer a new method to help stroke patients regain mobility.

In these, and many other ways, you are continuing to live up to the very reason the University of Kentucky was founded. 

I am deeply honored and profoundly thankful to work alongside each of you in our journey to improve the lives of all Kentuckians and beyond. 

Thank you for your passion and dedication to all that we continue to accomplish at UK. 

Robert S. DiPaola 
Provost

Dear Colleagues,

This week, I had the privilege of speaking with the sophomore class of Singletary Scholars during their HON 394 course session. It was an incredibly enlightening and fulfilling experience to discuss leadership development with these bright and brilliant students.

During our discussion, I shared my own leadership journey as well as some advice that I encouraged them to consider as they grow as leaders:

As a leadership skill, it is important to bring people together as a multidisciplinary team to solve the most complex problems. Understanding how to build that trust and optimal team dynamics is key.

And as a leader, it is important to manage making difficult decisions. An approach to consider is the 3 E’s, which can help with complex decisions: Reviewing the evidence or any available data, consulting or triaging with experts and — perhaps most importantly — considering emotions. Taking a calm approach and valuing equanimity are important for clear decision making.

As our esteemed faculty, you hold a unique role in helping our students grow as leaders — you shape their paths and nurture their talents, and I am grateful for your dedication to their ongoing success.

I always cherish the moments I spend with our students — their tremendous talent and drive to succeed greatly inspire me, as I hope they do for you.

Thank you for always putting our students first. 

Robert DiPaola 
Provost 

Dear Colleagues,

On Monday, I had the honor to speak at the grand opening of Miller Hall, where the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration has relocated. It was a dynamic crowd of individuals — faculty and staff, donors and patrons — all working together to accomplish the shared goal of preparing future policy leaders in the fields of law, government, public finance and more. 

The Martin School began as an individual’s dream. James W. Martin was a widely recognized and respected scholar in the field of government finance long before he began his career at UK. His influence on our campus community cannot be overstated, and the Martin School was named after him to honor his legacy of impactful scholarship and service for the public good. 

Today, the Martin School has a storied legacy that resonates across the country. Martin School alumni have gone into numerous and varied fields, including education, health care, public policy and city, state and federal government.

To accomplish James Martin’s dream, the Martin School has worked closely with many partners — the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, the Henry Clay Center, the city of Lexington, its donors and patrons and many, many others. This kind of collaboration is necessary in order to expand the impact on what we do. 

Seeing the effect of that collaboration on Monday was a proud moment — the University of Kentucky is a powerful force for good in this state because we are a collaborative force. Our faculty, staff, students and community members are all working together to heal and serve more patients, discover and create new ways to solve problems and inspire others to teach and lead.

I am deeply grateful for and proud of the work our colleges perform, as well as the individual faculty, staff and students who make that work possible.

Thank you for creating a university that continually advances Kentucky. 

Robert S. DiPaola 
Provost